The second and final day of the World Manufacturing Forum in Cernobbio, the international manufacturing event now permanently hosted in Italy. Following the success of the first day, which saw the presentation of the WMF Report on manufacturing, the second day featured an address by Li Yong, marking the Cooperation Agreement signed between the World Manufacturing Foundation and UNIDO - United Nations Industrial Development Organization, an agreement aimed at promoting sustainable industrial development, particularly in emerging countries.

UNIDO Director General, LI Yong, and WMF President, Alberto Ribolla, announced the details of this strategic agreement:

1. to promote a common global agenda on inclusive and sustainable industrial development and technological innovation;

2. to collaborate on the following activities: the annual or multi-year World Manufacturing Forum; the WMF Report; and joint initiatives to promote ISID (inclusive and sustainable industrial development) and advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

UNIDO Director General, LI Yong, expressed his pleasure in attending the World Manufacturing Forum, "particularly given the strong collaboration and partnership that UNIDO has with the WMF." "The World Manufacturing Forum has a mandate similar to the UNIDO mission of promoting inclusive and sustainable industrial development, as it also convenes stakeholders involved in industrialisation on a global scale. To this end, partnerships with multilateral organisations like the WMF will be beneficial to UNIDO's efforts, given the need to leverage knowledge networks and thought leadership to achieve sustainable development goals," said LI Yong.

The day opened with the presentation of the winning video from the World Manufacturing Forum contest: 'Here and now' by US video artist Simon Rivera. The filmmaker was awarded a €5,000 prize and a statuette created for the occasion by ADI Design.

"The World Manufacturing Forum is an international event that is fundamental to helping define future policies in the economic sector. We are working to be close to our entrepreneurs and their needs, to create an environment fertile for development, and to capitalise on their ideas, which deserve to become reality," said the Vice President of the Lombardy Region and Regional Minister for Research, Innovation, Universities, Export and Internationalisation, Fabrizio Sala.

"Ideas that start, first and foremost, with our young people. In this regard, the 'video contest' that was promoted represents an excellent initiative to engage students and focus their attention on sensitive future issues, such as Industry 4.0 in this case."

Numerous guests, including representatives from national and international institutions and the global industrial sector, took to the stage at Villa Erba for the plenary sessions. These included:

Giulio Centemero, Finance Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, Pichet Durongkaveroj, Minister of Digital Economy and Society of Thailand, Carlos Magarinos, Ambassador at the Argentine Embassy in Brazil, Vincenzo Boccia, President of Confindustria, Carlo Ferro, President of STMicroelectronics Italy, Flemming Besenbacher, Chairman of Carlsberg, Ilijana Vavan, GM Europe Kaspersky, Fabio Barsotti, Executive Vice President of Leonardo.

Many topics were explored during the second day of the World Manufacturing Forum: 'Manufacturing as an accelerator for emerging countries', 'The role of financial investment in manufacturing development', 'Conscious manufacturing resources: a circular economy to meet sustainable development goals', and 'Artificial intelligence and the cyber-industrial revolution: shaping the factory of the future'.